Book Review – BEAUTIFUL DISASTER by Jamie McGuire

July 25, 2013 by Joanne P

Beautiful Disaster Synopsis

INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. (Amazon)

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BOOK REVIEW

After reading the synopsis for Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster regular readers will be thinking this title is quite a departure from my normal reading fare. Although I consider myself to have broad reading tastes, the more commercial romantic young adult novels have never really appealed to me.

Enter stage left a wonderful friend of mine that’s in the business of knowing which books really sell. After encouraging me to read this title for some time to no avail, she ended up giving me a copy and demanded I read it! While I remained sceptical, I do trust her, and I really did like the cover art, so one rainy day I picked it up… and didn’t put it down until the very last word.

Although I find it difficult to explain precisely why, I now appreciate just how Jamie McGuire has achieved bestselling status with Beautiful Disaster. The prose is non-taxing, the characters appealing but economically developed and the plot is at times painfully predictable, BUT this novel is unbelievably addictive!

It has the same hypnotic effect soapy dramas and reality shows have – you know that je ne sais quoi of certain TV progams that cause otherwise deep thinking individuals to stay glued to the box for hours? And while this type of cultural fare will not expand our minds, it does have a certain remedial effect. It does us all good to switch down a gear or two every now and then.

While Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire will not be to everyone’s taste – very much for the young (or the young at heart) female audience – it is undeniably a relaxing and entertaining way to pass a few hours.

BOOK RATING: The Story 3 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5

Have you read Beautiful Disaster? Do you want to?

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Author Information: Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography. Her most recent novel, Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written bestselling contemporary romance Beautiful Disaster, and the Providence series. Jamie now lives in Enid, OK with her three children and husband Jeff, who is a real, live cowboy. They share their 30 acres with six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

I read it last year, mostly because I was curious but also because I love romance, and it was such a soap opera! Rather trashy and, ahem, bogan, but you’re so right, it is rather addictive. I was quite into it until the ending and then I felt rather disgusted. (Though, to be fair, it was in keeping with their *snob alert* class!)

I’m Jo, an Australian book reviewer. Since starting this website in 2009, I’ve come to realise I enjoy writing about books almost as much as reading them. I hope you enjoy browsing the several hundred reviews on my site and find your next great read today. Learn more & follow my reading adventures!

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